Today’s question focusses around BALANCE.

Have you ever found it difficult to balance everything going on in your life — your family, your friends, your job, and your dozens of other commitments, not to mention trying to build a home business?

“I’m probably one of the last people we should be asking about biz/personal life balance! Ha!

What do I do when not working?

Generally the most urgent thing is the housework I tend to ignore when working!

Some personal time is important however once you are getting business results that are stable.

For me, that meant returning to allowing myself to indulge in my favorite video game (and hence take the day off) on Sundays.

That’s my downtime that lets my mind have break from work stuff. It also gives me a chance to interact with a social community that is completely unrelated to work, social marketing, business, etc which is important. ”

“Great question, Bob! Why I am absolutely passionate about what I do, I have made a decision that no matter what, FAMILY COMES FIRST.

Being a homeschool Mom, wife, home manager, author, speaker and brand strategist working with high level clients, I set my internal alarm clock and am quite clear on when it’s time to immerse myself in work – which by the way is no longer “”work”” because I love what I do – or time to detach and just be Mom and wife.

With me, my flexibility and of those around me has been the reason I am able to now balance my business and personal life. I do have to say that in the beginning, we all made lots of sacrifices but we talked about them first as a family and each person understands that these are all temporary and it has to fit these criteria:

1) It has to do something with a pursuit of dream or passion.
2) It has to be a short term sacrifice for long term gain.

When I am not working, I love to read books on personal growth, spiritual growth, universal principles and of course, marketing! I listen to CDs or watch videos by my favorite Mentors.

I love writing on my journal, lighting my aromatherapy candles and enjoying a pot of my favorite Raspberry Riot Matte Tea from Teavana… it is divine! I also like to go shopping, not just for clothes, shoes and accessories but also the latest and greatest gadgets, gizmos and technology tools!

Nevertheless, having my own Personal Shopper is next on the list 🙂

When I just want to relax and be still, I go back to designing and creating jewelry for myself, for my friends, and for my special clients. There is something magical about creating.

The sense of accomplishment from creating something from nothing is quite rewarding!

As a family, we love dining out, exploring new cuisines and restaurants, vacations, cruises and of course, going to the movies. We live very close to the beach so we just pack our coolers and grab our beach chairs and we often go for picnics at the beach.

What I do love as my indulgences are a nice manicure and pedicure and spa visits. It’s like going on a mini-vacation each time!”

Me and my wife had a son last November, so the whole family likes to spend time together.

For example, I’m having lots of fun when playing with my son and all the work related stuff is forgotten in a split second :).

Also, me and my wife try to arrange some mutual time together too and go to the theatre or eat at the restaurant.

Other than that, I exercise quite a lot. I’m a marathoner and a triathlete, so I’m working out (run, swim or ride a bike) almost on a daily basis. At times my family travels with me whenever there is a racing weekend coming.

So family time and exercising – that’s the way I balance my business and my personal life.”

I also need some quiet time for myself. This is best accomplished by meditating and running – sometimes it’s the same: Meditation by running. I just love the energy of mother nature.

One of my favourite activities is cooking. Ah yes, of course, eating and drinking as well. I am a food and wine lover.

And I love to travel.

I find it increasingly difficult though to get the business stuff out of my mind. Although we don’t homeschool our kids officially (illegal in Germany), we need to sit down with them and study their school stuff because some teachers are really poor teachers.”

“Balance is something I have always strived for. I am a Libra which astrologically stands for balance/the scales.

It was a personal quest for a long time. This was until I was doing some personal development work and began to learn more about psychology, productivity and all that other goodness.

The real deal is balance is a myth. You cannot excel at something if you give equal attention to everything in your life.

It order to truly reach certain levels of high performance, or wealth or whatever your goals are there are times you have to get obsessed with that goal. That means something else has to give and well…poof! In that instance balance is gone, the scales are tipped in one direction.

When I created my first product, I went heads down for 8 days. I was obsessed with production and release of the product.

I was trying to win a contest and I had a deadline. I couldn’t be mom, grocery shopper, wife, and business person at the same time. So, hubby took the kids and I went underground for long periods of time EACH day.

Did my family suffer, not in a painful sense unless you count the kids and hubby doing more chores but no one was “harmed” for an extended period. Everyone knew there was a goal, an outcome that would help our family.

You have to get real about your goals and what it is going to take to achieve them. Its the old adage. If there was a guarantee it would take 500 days of working everyday 12+ hours a day and then you would be set for life — would you get obsessed?

I would.

There are no guarantees in life instead its a game of “tip the scales”. Remember to tip them back and forth as needed in your life to get the outcomes you desire…and somewhere in between there is balance.”

I live each moment engaged in the full context when I’m there I’m present, active and there! When you’re not there is time to be doing other things then be fully focused there. (My guiding priorities are Family, Service, Study, Work and Enjoy!)

That’s the balance keep it going I keep balance in my life. If something unexpected shows up I embrace it and roll with what is happening.

When the kids were younger the kids wanted soccer after school so we’d play soccer. Best time spent. Just playing. After they were in bed it was to do other less important things. (Like work on my home business.)

Enjoying the unexpected allows firm flexibility at doing what you can when it is best to do it. I try to keep my world congruent with the context. I’m always asking “”What can I do here and now with who is here and now?”” Just go with it when it is important to them.

When I’m not working, I have a good time. Just like you, I let my mind go to work on the projects and patterns that are yet unresolved. My mind does some of its best work when we are off doing other things.

I find working in the garden or going for a bike ride let’s my mind do it’s important work. Sometimes exploring some place new while hiking or biking is an adventure for me. I love the escape.

The joy is in the getting back to work to find the issue at hand handled. All that is left to do is implement! ”

My Turn

“When I came up with this question for our group, I must admit that I did so for selfish purposes — I wanted to see what others were doing to balance their lives and build a business.

And what I see are some common elements — Yes, family comes first. That’s a given.

But beyond that, I see many of my fellow marketing experts saying that they are pretty well immersed in their business and don’t have much time for balance. And I think that’s the truth with me as well.

I’m going to tell you something that you may not like. But you need to hear it.

If you’re planning on building a profitable, self-sustaining business to replace your J-O-B or other source of current income, you have a decision to make.

Are you willing to put in the time it will take to get your business past the Tipping Point — the place where your business is running even when you step away. Are you?

Because I gotta tell you, until that tipping point happens you need to eat, drink and sleep your business, with every spare moment that you have.

That’s what I’ve had to do… it’s what all our experts here did or are doing to make their business thrive.

So for me – at the moment – there’s not much balance. But I know this is temporary.

Every month I see new signs that I’m getting closer to the tipping point. It’s coming, I can see it and I can feel it.

And when it comes… when my business “tips” and I can replace my full time income with that of my business…. WATCH OUT! :-)”

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Dr. Bob Clarke teaches Part Time Marketers how to better leverage their time, effort, money, skills, and other people's knowledge in maximizing their business success. Don't forget to grab your Free Training Grow a Thriving Business in 30 Minutes/Day or Less -- an essential resource for anyone struggling to build their business Part Time.

Great post! All of those people could be workaholics I guess, but this is not a bad thing. I personally love having a tight schedule, because I feel like I am actually doing something in my life.
Hopefully in the future I will have more time to spend with my family, because after all family is the most important thing for each of us!

Hi Bob . Thanks for such a salutary share . I genuinely liked Jim’s perception as to ask oneself “What can I do here and now with who is here and now “. This can indeed help one to give quality input in whatever situation one is in and finally would end up striking a balance . A brain storming share .

Great post Bob. Reading the experience of the experts are really fantastic on how they balance business and personal life. This could really teach me on what are the right things to do in order to do two things at the same time. It is really hard handling business and at the same time having time with your personal life so after reading the experts experience now I know that we balance business and personal life at the same time.

Hi, Bob. Thanks for sharing this one. It is very important that individual must know how to balance business and personal life. With this, he could breath properly in the world he is in. I love reading all the answers of the experts on how they balance everything. I got a lot of ideas from them.

Great post! Balance is something that I need to achieve. This is why I re-entered the MLM arena. I am tired of working to pay bills every month. There are people experiencing a level of success with MLM that allows them to live the lives of their dreams. I want that too!

Hi Bob; this was a great question, and you do have an impressive line up. I know i am too involved in my business. When I’m not working on it, I’m usually thinking about it. Rarely will i sit down to listen to a tv show or movie that i don’t have my laptop out. Most of my friends are online, and several of them are also involved in building businesses. a lot of my conversations with family are about the website, the blog, new listings, possible leads, etc. and yes I am single. I have a crazy but of a dog but no wife or girlfriend. the best thing i learned from the group is that its okay for me to take a few minutes or even a day to enjoy a book, go to a movie, have a meal in a restaurant, or just hang out with family and friends. My brother patrick likes to say that the midway marketplace is my passion. He says he knows i will eventually be very successful because its not just a job its the reason i get up in the morning. I too am hoping for the day soon when the tipping point will be reached, but knowing myself, i think i will need someone to help drag me away from it. thanks again for a great post. maybe this time next year, I’ll make the panel. smile have to have dreams and goals. take care, max

This is a great line up and a great question! In my experience it seems that the balancing act is something that always needs adjusting. Both life and business are always changing so I must change based on those changes.

Recently I’ve rediscovered my buried dream of writing novels. It brings a new level of excitement into my life but at the same time I must now be even more disciplined to get everything done!

I agree with Oliver – super lineup! All inspiring people. Balance is such a big deal and sometimes so elusive. I work from my home, with my husband, so for me work and life are interchangeable. We;re also completely mobile so we can work from anywhere, and sometimes we do! Maybe it defeats the purpose to say “I’m going away for a few days” and then spend that time working but just getting out of your normal routine is a good way to keep perspective. Thanks for sharing these words of wisdom!

I think finding that ballance point is simply different. although extreme focus is essential as everyone here has said, you eventually need to take that break and find that ballance through focusing on different things.

Nobody could completely focus on just their business and absolutely nothing else for years. they would self destruct. Your body would shut down if you completely ignored it. In certain stages of business growth, you need that complete focus, but eventually you will burn out if you don’t ever take a moment to breathe and spend time outside of your business. However, balance doesn’t have to mean spending equal amounts of time, but rather the quality of time that you do spend.

I can go for weeks spending 12-15 hours a day on work, but at I take at least 2-3 days off a month that I spend completely offline with my family and friends. When it is time for work, I completely immerse myself in it, but when it is time to not work, I completely focus on where I am and what I am doing.

personally, I think that your balance comes by clearly defining your goals in each area of your life. You need to have goals in your relationships, health, and personal life as well as in your business. However, your business also will help you achieve those other things.

One thing I like is having a business that is also working on those other goals at the same time. It all weaves together to create a fun and fulfilling life.

I’m like you Bob, I enjoy hearing how everyone else is spending their time and balancing their lives.

I know for me it’s probably easier mainly because I don’t have the guilt of family obligations or children that need my attention. But I know for the longest time I didn’t ever take any time for myself and work really just wearing myself out.

It’s good to know I’m not the only person who found themselves in this predicament. At least we’re all learning through this process right!